2023 Ronstan 505 Australian Championship at Darling Point Sailing Squadron - Day 2
by Jordan Spencer 25 Jan 01:52 PST
22-28 January 2023
2023 505 Australian Championship © Jordan Spencer
Well, I promised breeze for day 2 and I lied. The beautiful sunny conditions Qld is renowned for were blocked by cloud all day. As a result, the thermal didn't eventuate, and racing was held in light North to NNE breeze. Race 4 started in 6 knots, and it freshened a little during race 5, but being a gradient breeze there were plenty of direction and pressure changes.
Despite the challenging conditions, the two standout boats from yesterday Michael Quirk and Felix Brockerhoff and Christopher Paterson and Thor Schoenhoff continue to lead and in fact are now tied, (after a drop, 1 point apart without). Paterson and Schoenhoff had two seconds today, whereas Quirk and Brockerhoff had a 1st and 7th. Quirk is a 4 time Australian Champion, Brokerhoff part of the German Olympic squad. Paterson has been runner up the last two times the 505 nationals have been held and Schoehoff has a second at the Musto Worlds and is no doubt well coached by his Olympic Gold medallist wife Tessa Parkinson, so the intensity of the competition is high.
The other standout for the day was Malcolm and Jack Higgins. The father and son team clicking well in the light, shifty conditions. They scored a 4 and a 1 today and have now moved into 3rd overall. Yesterdays 3rd overall Stivano and Burt had a tough day scoring a 10 and 11. From there everyone's scorecard is starting to get big as the challenging conditions affect consistency. One performance of note has to be Jeffrey Robinson and Adam Wyatt. On both days, they have had their best races on the last race, both 4th's. Maybe the new fitness regime is paying off?
Looking out over the boat park, there are thunderstorm clouds building as the humidity climbs and the forecasts suggests the potential of thunderstorm activity late tomorrow. North to NE winds 10-15 knots are forecast after light morning winds. The race committee has elected to push the start back an hour to 2.00pm to allow the breeze to settle. Certainly, the challenging conditions will continue and it is likely our two lead boats will start focussing on each other as they have a 12 point gap from third. We plan to try and do a few live streams from the course tomorrow, so keep your eye on the International 505 Facebook page.
Results can be found here.